I have the 12.1m Pentax Optio W80, which was just replaced by the W90. I also have a 7.1m Pentax Optio W30 which I have used for a few years in many oceans, lakes and swimming pools. It replaced an older Pentax 5.1m UW model (W-10?) that I used for a year before it was stolen. I thought the W30 quit working in Curacao this January, thus the purchase of the W80, but it seems to be working fine lately, so I now have two of these UW cameras. Most of the highend P&S now feature being shockproof, freezeproof and dustproof. The W80 over the W30 also offers 5x vs 3x zoom. I am pretty happy with the pictures/video above and below water. When I don't feel like lugging my Nikon digital SLR around or if looks like rain, I take the pocketable Pentax instead. I thought about the Canon, but the rounded shape did not seem as pocketable. I also considered Olympus and Fuji. Current marketing now is featuring these type cameras as all-around adventure cameras and several other manufacturers have jumped in to offer uw P&S.

Scuba enthusiasts may scoff, but the much of the lighting required beyond 10 meters underwater usually costs a lot more than the camera and/or housings needed at that depth. I'm pretty happy with my Pentax. My only complaint is the float cushion they provided could have easily been made into a combination case/float.

-outoftown, with my $0.02 worth